Mayo supermarket manager stole €50k to feed gambling addiction
The defendant pleaded guilty at a sitting of Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
A supermarket manager stole €50,000 from his employer in a “doomed” bid to pay off gambling debts.
David Ward, aged 32, of Rhebogue Meadows, Limerick City, pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court to the theft.
Ward was working as an assistant manager at Aldi in Belmullet at the time of the offences in 2022. The accused had only recently started working in Belmullet and stole €50,000 during a two-week period.
The court heard that on August 2022, the area manager of Aldi in Belmullet, Donal Rynne, reported the suspected theft of €50,000 in cash from the store safe. The theft had only been discovered when Brinks Security attended to collect a pre-registered sum of cash to the value of €108,800.
The amount had been registered online via a Brinks portal having been securely placed in a drop safe in bags which each contained their own unique serial numbers. On collection of the bags, it became immediately apparent that 10 bags were missing, each of which contained €5,000 in cash.
Protocols in place for the movement of cash had not been adhered to and records relating to the lodging of the missing cash bags were traced back to Ward.
CCTV showed Ward working in the store office at the time when the cash went missing. The cash was stolen over a period from August 18 to 26, 2022. The defendant never placed the individual bags in the drop safe and CCTV showed him concealing the empty cash bags.
On August 30, 2022, Ward rang in sick for work. On the same day, he was contacted by phone by Gardaí and indicated that he would present himself voluntarily at Ballina Garda Station on September 1, 2022. He also sent a message to his area manager that day which detailed the circumstances behind his crime and offered an apology for his actions.
“I know this means absolutely nothing to you or anyone but I’m sorry for what I did. I started gambling when I was in Belmullet, lost everything I owned, and rather than suck it up and accept it, I started digging a hole that never stopped and now will go to prison. I was going to put it all back but obviously knew the game was up and lost everything,” Ward told his area manager.
“I don’t know how I got into this mess, I never stole a thing in my life, and I’ve handled over €1 million in Aldi alone. I never even took five cents. But these last few weeks have been a blur really,” he added.
When he travelled to Ballina Garda Station, Ward handed over several items including a diary containing a large number of losing betting slips and cash bags.
The accused co-operated fully with Gardaí and outlined how he lost most of the money over a two-week period through his addiction to gambling. He intended to replace the money with his winnings, but the winnings never came.
A repayment schedule is in place which will see Ward make monthly payments of €400 per month. Aldi suffered a net loss of €45,375 as a sum of cash was recovered by Gardaí. Under the current terms of the repayment plan, it will be 2032 before all the money is paid back.
Ward has six previous convictions but none for theft. He picked up a drunk driving conviction during the same period that he was stealing money from Aldi.
Barrister Patrick Murphy, representing Ward, said his client had risen through the ranks in Aldi and was offered a promotion on the basis that he moved to Belmullet. While living in a hotel there, he started drinking and gambling heavily and lost €9,000 of his own money over 12 days.
“He lost all his savings and any money he had,” said Mr Murphy.
The barrister said what followed was a “doomed” attempt to pay the money back.
“It’s clear that things completely spiraled out of control for this man,” Mr Murphy added.
The barrister said there was no sophistication to the crime and Ward was always going to get caught. He said the accused was in constant employment since leaving school and is currently working in a factory in Limerick.
“Borrowing Peter to pay Paul of course will never work,” remarked Judge Eoin Garavan.
The judge commended Aldi for the approach they have taken after such a “huge breach of trust". The court heard Ward was 180 days gambling-free and 100 days free of alcohol and remains in counselling.
“I’m willing to give a chance to Mr Ward,” Judge Garavan stated.
He imposed a three-year suspended sentence. The sentence is suspended for five years and will be activated should Ward fail to pay back the money owed.
